Foreclosure Pace Slows In September

October 12th, 2007

Across the country foreclosure listings dropped by 8% after 32 months of unchallenged rule which peaked in August 2007. According to reliable online trackers the foreclosure delinquencies and defaults fell to 223,538. In 39 states foreclosure activity decreased. The fall in numbers included activity in all foreclosure steps – default, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

Despite the relative fall it is still double the number of the previous year. The time is not yet ripe to say if the September numbers is just a lull before another foreclosure storm or if the buyers are getting back on their feet, snapping up foreclosed properties and giving some sort of relief to the distressed house owners and lenders.

Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, North Carolina and Tennessee, the Sun Belt states, and the Rust Belt states (Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) continue to hold on to their top positions in foreclosure ratings. In Nevada the proportion is 1:185 with a total of 5,504 foreclosures. The picture is grim in Florida (1:248), California (1:253), Arizona (1:316), Georgia (1:316), Colorado (1:326) and Texas (1:615). Rust belt states are those in the previous industrial centers of the country and were included in the top ten rankers. The number of foreclosures per house ratio is alarming – Michigan (1:314), Ohio (1:319) and Indiana (1.615).

Although in Florida the foreclosure temperature dropped by 2% from August it improved its dubious ranking by going up to the second from the third position it had held in the previous month.

Illinois ranked among the states with the highest number of foreclosures. It is the only state that has recorded a month-to-month increase in foreclosure operations. Here there have been 8,257 filings – that is an increase of 33% from August.

Among the top rankers six cities are from California alone. Merced is first (1:68) and is closely followed by Modesto, Stockton, Riverside, San-Bernadino, Vallejo, Fairfield and Sacramento. Foreclosures have badly hit other metro cities like Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Las Vegas.

In actual number of foreclosures California ranked first. During the months 51,259 units are in some stage or other of foreclosure. Florida ranks second with 33,354 and Ohio third with 15,709 foreclosures.

The biggest cool down in foreclosure activity came to be noted in Washington DC – an 82% fall from the previous month.

Although the decline seems to be fairly broad based, nevertheless experts apprehend that before the year closes more than 2 million will be hit by the foreclosure bug.

Via